Bridgestone Retail Operations LLC (BSRO) is testing a mobile tire service in the Nashville, Tenn., area, and says if successful it could be extended to dealers in the Bridgestone Affiliated Retailer Nationwide Network.
The Firestone Mobile Tire Installation van is stationed at a Firestone Complete Auto Care store in the Nashville suburb of Brentwood. Managed by Scott Cramer and Chris Duncan, the mobile service promises tire installation and balancing "anywhere you are."
The website for the Brentwood-based service says, "Firestone Complete Auto Care is getting rid of the waiting room! Now we will come to you for installation of a set of Bridgestone or Firestone tires and get the job done quickly and efficiently. Busy work day? Firestone will come to your office and install your tires during your lunch break in the parking lot. Stuck with the kids at home? Firestone will come to your house and install your tires in the driveway."
Susan Steeno, a spokeswoman for BSRO, says the mobile unit "is a pilot currently being tested in a limited portion of the Nashville metro market.
"We are always exploring new ways to get in touch with the end users of our products and gain insights about our Bridgestone and Firestone product offering and the tire retail service model. If this project proves successful, we may consider rolling it out to additional markets. It may also have future viability for some key dealers in our Bridgestone Affiliated Retailer Nationwide Network."
Steeno says the company is testing the market with a single van.
Bridgestone has set up a website for the service. Consumers can call to schedule an appointment Monday through Saturday. The company is currently waiving the $80 "mobile tire service fee."
In a story on Nashville's WKRN, Cramer says the average service will take about 30 minutes. He also says appointments can be set via e-mail, text message, or phone call, though the service's website encourages consumers to call.
See the WKRN story here:
Bridgestone apparently has had the mobile service in the works for quite some time. In September 2015 Cramer and Duncan took the van to Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., about 30 miles away from the van's Brentwood store home site. The school's automotive students used the mobile unit to change the tires on driver's education cars used by the school.
In March 2016 a consumer in the Nashville area wrote on social media about seeing a television commercial for the mobile service.
Bridgestone isn't the first tire maker to test the mobile market. In August 2015 Michelin North America Inc. began Michelin OnSite in its pilot market of Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
